Mary Westmacott | Agatha Christie Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit The name Mary Westmacott was one chosen by Christie with great care. Mary was Christie's own middle name, and Westmacott the name of some family relatives. Mary Westmacott is a distinct person from Agatha Christie. In 1950, when she was invited to a celebration for her work, she quipped, "Thank you for asking me to meet Agatha Christie. If you don't mind, I am bringing my old friend Mary Westmacott with me." The Westmacott novels were simply written for "fun," to put it loosely. Christie had said in her autobiography that she wanted "to do something that is not my proper job," i.e., writing detective novels. She said she wrote the first, Giant's Bread, with a "rather guilty feeling" and enjoyed the project she had undertaken. Although Mary Westmacott was revealed to be Agatha Christie in 1949, it didn't stop her from publishing two more Westmacott novels, still under her pseudonym. This is another affirmation that Agatha could write more than just great detective stories.

Structure Edit The focus of the Mary Westmacott novel's is human relationship. There's even a hint of autobiographical elements that Christie inserts. There are several themes, to briefly mention a few: possessiveness, failure in human perception, nature and the inequality of love, self-evaluation, and awareness of one's and others' feelings. In the books there are even contemplation of suicide and supernatural elements. Hick's Essay Edit To celebrate Agatha Christie’s Centenary, Rosalind Hicks , Agatha Christie's daughter, wrote an essay on the Westmacott novels. We have reproduced this here: “As early as 1930, my mother wrote her first novel using the name “Mary Westmacott”. These novels, six in all, were a complete departure from the usual sphere of Agatha Christie “Queen of Crime”. The name Mary Westmacott was chosen after some thought. Mary was Agatha’s second name and Westmacott the name of some distant relatives. She succeeded in keeping her identity as Mary Westmacott unknown for nearly twenty years and the books, much to her pleasure, were modestly successful.

Giant’s Bread was first published in 1930 and was to be the first of six books under this nom de plume. It is a novel about Vernon Deyre, his childhood, his family, the two women he loved and his obsession with music. My mother had some experience of the musical world having been trained as a singer and a concert pianist in Paris when she was young. She was interested in modern music, and tried to express the feelings and ambitions of the singer and the composer. There is a lot about childhood and the First World War taken from her own experiences. Her publishers, Collins, were not very enthusiastic about this change of direction in her work as she was at this time becoming quite well known in the world of detective fiction. They needn’t have worried. In 1930 she also published The Mysterious Mr. Quin and, Murder at the Vicarage – Miss Marple’s first book. During the next ten years there followed no less than sixteen full length Poirot stories including such titles as Murder on the Orient Express , The A.B.C. Murders , Death on the Nile , and Appointment with Death .

Her second Mary Westmacott book Unfinished Portrait was published in 1934. It also relied a lot on her own experiences and early life. In 1944 she published Absent in the Spring . She wrote in her autobiography : “Shortly after that, I wrote the one book that has satisfied me completely. It was a new Mary Westmacott, the book that I had always wanted to write, that had been clear in my mind. It was the picture of a woman with a complete image of herself, of what she was, but about which she was completely mistaken. Through her own actions, her own feelings and thoughts, this would be revealed to the reader. She would be, as it were, continually meeting herself, not recognising herself, but becoming increasingly uneasy. What brought about this revelation would be the fact that for the first time in her life she was alone – completely alone – for four or five days.

“I wrote that book in three days flat…I went straight through…I don’t think I have ever been so tired…I didn’t want to change a word and although I don’t know myself of course what it is really like, it was written as I meant to write it, and that is the proudest joy and author can have.” I think Absent in the Spring combines many talents from Agatha Christie, the detective story writer. It is very well constructed, compulsive reading. You get a wonderfully clear picture of all the family from the thoughts of one woman alone in the desert – really quite a triumph. In 1947 she wrote The Rose and the Yew Tree . This was a great favourite of hers and of mine too. It is a haunting and beautiful story. Strangely enough Collins didn’t like it and as they hadn’t been very kind about any of the Mary Westmacotts, she took it to Heinemann who published this and her last two books – A Daughter’s a Daughter (1952) and The Burden (1956). The Mary Westmacott books have been described as romantic novels but I don’t think that is really a fair assessment.

They are not ‘love stories’ in the general sense of the term, and they certainly have no happy endings. They are, I believe, about love in some of its most powerful and destructive forms. The possessive love of a mother for her child, or a child for its mother in both Giant’s Bread and Unfinished Portrait. The battle between the widowed mother and her grown-up daughter in A Daughter’s a Daughter . A girl’s obsession with her younger sister in The Burden and the closeness of love to hate – the Burden in this story being the weight of one person’s love on someone else. Mary Westmacott never enjoyed the same critical acclaim as Agatha Christie , but the books achieved some recognition in a minor way and she was pleased when people enjoyed them – she was able to fulfil her wish to write something different.” 11 Author Pen Names That We Thought Were Their Real Names - 11 Points 11 Author Pen Names That We Thought Were Their Real Names written by Sam Greenspan I've always found myself unexplainably intrigued by pen names and showbiz names.

I trace it back to when I was in 5th grade, figured out how to go on Usenet (it was the late '80s) and found a list of pro wrestler's real names. I remember thinking things like "Jake 'The Snake' Roberts is really named Aurelian Smith, Jr.? That is a totally radical discovery!" Apropos of that, sort of, I put together this list of famous authors who use pen names -- but pen names that we (or, more accurately, I) always figured were their real names. So this list doesn't have Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain, or Dr. Seuss/Theodor Seuss Geisel, or Dear Abby and Ann Landers/15 random yentas. Howard. Anne Rice. (Real Name: Howard Allen O'Brien) Yes, Anne Rice's real name is Howard. No, this wasn't a case of a guy trying to write vampire stories under a woman's name to give them that extra dose of sensuality -- Anne Rice's mom really named her Howard. Not sure why she ditched the O'Brien; that probably was related to having some credibility in the sensuality department. George Orwell.

(Real Name: Eric Arthur Blair) In a crazy twist, "Eric Blair" sounds like the name of a character who could've been someone's Big Brother in a teen movie made in 1984. Lewis Carroll. (Real Name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) No, I didn't know Lewis Carroll was a pen name. Sure, cackle in delight with superiority. Lewis Carroll sounds like a perfectly viable British name (at least to me as an American). According to The Internet, he picked this because Lewis was adapted as the Anglicized version of the Latin version of Lutwidge and Carroll was adapted as the Irish version of the Latin version of Charles. See, back in the 1800s, instead of trying to take their middle name and street name and find their porn pseudonym, kids converted and unconverted their names from Latin to figure out their pen names. Thanks a lot, mind numbing effects of television. Voltaire. (Real Name: Francois-Marie Arouet) So if you're at an all-night breakfast place and order pancakes in the Age of Enlightenment, you'll fully understand if the waitress tells you "Hold on, Francois-Marie Arouet." Pablo Neruda.

(Real Name: Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto) I am familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda. (Just not his real name.) Ayn Rand. (Real Name: Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum) Probably would've realized this was a pen name if I'd thought about it. Or, at least, if the government had told me I was allowed to think about it. Stan Lee. (Real Name: Stanley Martin Lieber) I'm happy I live in an era where we now think our super-Jewy last names will actually HELP us get credibility. You blazed this trail, Seinfeld/Stern/Sandler/Bill Goldberg/Jonathan Lipnicki. George Eliot, going for the Princess Leia. George Eliot. (Real Name: Mary Ann Evans) I feel like once upon a time I was in an English class and we were doing "Silas Marner" and the teacher told us that a woman used the pen name "George Eliot" so she'd be taken seriously.

Although, gun to my head, after well over a decade of letting that trivia knowledge atrophy, I probably couldn't have told you whether George Eliot or Silas Marner was the pen name, the book or the real name. It's the Gordon Lightfood/Edmund Fitzgerald paradox all over again. Joseph Conrad. (Real Name: Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski) Question: How many Polish authors does it take to make a heart of darkness? Answer: One to write the book and 10 to unscrew the lightbulb. Crickets. Agatha Christie. (Real Name: Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller) If twisting her own name wasn't enough, to keep her mysterion credibility, she also wrote romance novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott. Have you ever read "Murder on the Orient Ass-press"? That book's like all anal. J.K. Rowling. (Real Name: Joanne Rowling) The "K" doesn't stand for anything; she doesn't have a middle name. J.K. Rowling adding something extraneous -- who would've thunk it?

This post was originally published on Monday, December 20, 2010 at 11:00:00 AM under the category Books . Facebookery? Can You Guess Which Pen Name Belongs To Which Famous Author Your Post Has Been Launched! Fabulous! Don't forget to share with your friends on Twitter and Facebook. Can You Guess Which Pen Name Belongs To Which Famous Author? Up next on your reading list: A Tale of Two Names. Liz Claiborne Christopher Oates Joyce Carol Oates wrote “Lives of the Twins” and seven other novels under the pen name Rosamond Smith. King Stephen Roland Deschain Stephen King published seven novels, including “Rage” and “The Long Walk,” under the pen name Richard Bachman. King explains on his website that he used the pseudonym because “there was a feeling in the publishing business that one book a year was all the public would accept.” Newland Archer Rita Ora Ellie Sattler John Lange Michael Crichton wrote a number of novels in the ’60s and ’70s, including his debut novel “Odds On,” under the pen name John Lange. Lady AGaGatha W.H.

Blore Agatha Christie wrote six novels under the pen name Mary Westmacott. Her granddaughter writes on the author’s official website that the pseudonym “freed [her grandmother] from the expectations of her mystery fans.” Victoria Lucas W.F.P. Topney Sylvia Plath wrote “The Bell Jar” under the pen name Victoria Lucas because, according to one of the writer’s friends, Plath didn’t want her mother to know she had written the novel. Can You Guess Which Pen Name Belongs To Which Famous Author? Not so good with names, huh? We’re sure you’re better with faces! Nice try! Not “The Shining” score you hoped for? Try again later! Nice job! We had “Great Expectations” – and you exceeded them! SHARE YOUR RESULTS How to Use a Pen Name | Book Marketing Bestsellers Book Marketing Bestsellers How to Use a Pen Name Posted on by Book Marketing Stories Some authors like to use pen names when writing books, especially fiction. Below is a Q&A email I answered for an author who wanted to use a pen name — and had a lot of questions on how to use a pen name successfully.

Book Publishing Question: I have just finished writing a novel and will be publishing it myself under a pen name. I chose to go the pen name route for reasons of privacy and also for marketing reasons (so people don’t get confused if I ever write other genres like theology, children’s books or if my first book bombs and I want to start over). I will be publishing under the name of Pen Name. I will be myself, Real Name, as the publisher of My Publishing Company. Having a pen name is relatively easy if I just sit at home and don’t go out. But since you advocate that authors interview and speak and sign books, I can’t see using a pen name working. Do I just give up on it and write under my real name? Here are my questions: Question: How do introduce myself to my audience, radio talk show hosts, conference attendees? “Hi, I’m Mike.” “Hi, I’m Lee” or “Hi I’m Mike, but that’s not my real name.” Answer: If you have a pen name, you publicize and speak using that pen name. And only your pen name. Question: Will I violate a trust with my audience or reviewers if I keep my identity a secret?

Answer: You violate no trust by keeping your true identity a secret. Your cover can state that you are using a pen name, but you don’t have to provide your real name if you don’t want to. Question: If I tell a interviewer my real name is Lee, will they agree to refer to me as Mike during the interview? Answer: Don’t tell anyone your real name. Focus on being and promoting your pen name. Don’t confuse them by giving them two names. It only causes confusion. Question: If I go on TV or speak in public, how should I handle it if someone recognizes me? Answer: If someone recognizes you, simply tell them you write and promote under your pen name. Keep it simple. Never complicate things. Tell the truth, and keep it simple. Question: What other reasons have authors employed pen names for? Answer: Some writers have employed pen names because they write in two genres and want to keep the two separate. For example, Agatha Christie writing romance novels as Mary Westmacott. Others use pen names because they are so productive that a publisher would never publish all their books under one name. For example, Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb and Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman.

Some want to publish without hype or expectation. Thus J.K. Rowling wrote as Robert Galbraith. Back in the 1950s, several women wrote using a male pen name because their field (science fiction) was dominated by men; for example, Alice Sheldon writing as James Tiptree, Jr. Even more recently, Joanne Rowling was convinced to publish as J.K. Rowling to appeal to the young boys who read fantasy. Similarly, several men have written romance novels using a female pen name. For example, Tom E. Huff wrote as Jennifer Wilde and Harold Lowry wrote as the gender neutral Leigh Greenwood. In the early 1800s, women used male names to get more respect. The Brontë sisters all wrote as men with the last name of Bell. Amandine Lucie Aurore Dupin wrote as George Sand. Mary Anne Evans wrote as George Eliot. You can find more reasons authors use pen names in a previous article I wrote: . The above link takes you to a really extensive article that you should also read if you are deciding on whether or not to use a pen name. Question: Do you have any anecdotes from other authors who had these problems?

Answer: They are not problems, so I have no anecdotes. Using a pen name really is not a problem. Question: Can you give me the names of any other authors who might have some advice for me? Answer: Don’t worry about a pen name. You are way over concerned. Simply write and promote under the pen name and don’t make a big deal about it. You don’t need to talk to any other authors about this. Remember: Mark Twain did incredibly well using a pen name. You are in good company. Here are just a few famous authors who used pen names: Stephen King – Richard Bachman Charles Lutwidge Dodgson – Lewis Carroll Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski – Joseph Conrad Karen Blixen – Isak Dinesen Mary Anne Evans – George Eliot Cecil Smith – C.S. Forester William Sydney Porter – O. Henry James Alfred Wight – James Herriot James Oliver Rigney, Jr.

– Robert Jordan Washington Irving – Diedrich Knickerbocker Michael Crichton – John Lange, Jeffrey Hudson, Michael Douglas Stanley Martin Lieber – Stan Lee Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto – Pablo Neruda Eric Blair – George Orwell Howard Allen O’Brien – Anne Rice, Anne Rampling, A.N. Roquelaure Amandine Lucie Aurore Dupin – George Sand Theodore Seuss Geisel – Dr. Seuss Daniel Handler – Lemony Snicket Alice Sheldon – James Tiptree, Jr. Samuel Langhorne Clemens – Mark Twain François-Marie Arouet – Voltaire Charles Farrar Browne – Artemus Ward Agatha Christie – Mary Westmacott Tom E. Huff – Jennifer Wilde ========== Book Marketing 101: How to Create a National Bestseller — How to out-sell the New York Times bestsellers without breaking the bank. This is an inside guide on how other authors and self-publishers have created national bestsellers with persistence, elbow grease, and some investment of time or money. Also includes John Kremer’s insight on how to create a bestseller. Ebook download. $30.00.

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Learn the seven successful strategies of every bestseller, guerilla marketing for writers, the meaning of success, a bestseller’s take on selling books, the ten secrets of publishing success, Mohammad’s guide to gaining paradise, how to be a good talk radio guest, how Terry McMillan became a bestselling author on her own, and how Elmore Leonard became HOT! Ebook download, $20.00. Book Marketing 105: Choosing a Book Distribution System — This vital mini-guide includes criteria for deciding how you will distribute your books. Also includes complete information on 30 distributors, 4 library distributors, 89 book publishers who also distribute for other publishers, 3 sales representatives to the chains, 27 bookstore wholesalers, 34 library wholesalers, and 23 Spanish-language wholesalers. Plus a sample book distribution contract. Ebook download, $30.00. About John Kremer John Kremer is author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books, the Relationships Matter Marketing program, and many other books and reports on book marketing, Internet marketing, social media, and book publicity. -- John Kremer on Book Marketing .

10 Authors Who Write Under Different Pen Names | Mental Floss UK 10 Authors Who Write Under Different Pen Names Read everything by your favourite writer? Maybe not, if they’re using alternate pen names... google+ When you see a familiar author’s name on a book cover, you think you know what you’re getting. Most writers have a specific style, and a genre they return to over and over again, so fans can feel pretty confident that if they liked someone’s last book, they’ll like the next one. But what if a well-known author wants to write something completely different? Changing genre or demographic can be tricky – which is where pseudonyms come in. Here are 10 authors who also wrote under other names: Stephen King Stephen King is known as a pretty prolific author, but back in the ‘70s, publishers wanted him to slow down. The accepted wisdom was that authors should only put out one book per year, to avoid saturating the market. To get around that restriction, King came up with a pseudonym: 'Richard Bachman'. Publishing as Bachman was also a test, of sorts. King wanted to know whether his success was genuinely merited by his writing or just a stroke of luck.

So by quietly putting out novels under another name was meant to prove, one way or another, what he owed his success too. Unfortunately for him, he was rumbled pretty quickly when readers noticed the similarities, and by the time he’d written five Bachman books, the truth was out there. JK Rowling When JK Rowling wrote her first book aimed at adults, she did so under her own name. But the weight of expectation must have been crushing, so for her second book, she picked a pseudonym. 'Robert Galbraith” was named for Robert F. Kennedy and Rowling’s childhood fantasy name, Ella Galbraith, and Rowling submitted the book to publishers without letting on that she was the one behind it. The Cuckoo’s Calling was actually rejected by at least one publisher, and ended up being put out by the same publishing house as The Casual Vacancy. Again, though, Rowling didn’t get to find out how readers would react to her work without her name attached for long before her identity was leaked.

Richard Matheson Matheson was another author who chose a pen name to distance himself from some of his work – but in his case, it was usually because he didn’t like it, or didn’t like what editors or filmmakers had done with his work. When his novel I Am Legend was adapted into the 1964 movie The Last Man On Earth, Matheson was so annoyed by changes to his screenplay that he asked to be credited as 'Logan Swanson'. He repeated the trick when Playboy Press published a heavily edited version of his story Earthbound, and also reused the pseudonym for episodes he wrote for Combat! and The Twilight Zone. It’s one way to make sure your bibliography looks flawless, we suppose. Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates’s literary fiction has won her an abundance of awards over the years, but she, too, felt the need to escape the expectations of her readers by adopting a pseudonym. In the ‘80s, she wrote a short, experimental novel called The Lives Of The Twins, and submitted it to publishers under the name 'Rosamond Smith'.

The book was accepted, but before it was even published, her cover was blown, with her editors and agents bewildered that she’d tried to trick them. After all, she’d already published more than 40 books in different genres, so they didn’t understand what she was up to. Chastened, Oates told the New York Times that she had just been trying to get a fresh reading from critics, and vowed never to use a pseudonym again. She soon broke her promise, though: she’s since published a further seven books under the Rosamond Smith moniker, plus three novels as 'Lauren Kelly'. And it even came out that Rosamond Smith wasn’t her first pseudonym, as she’d published several stories under the name 'Rae Jolene Smith'. Sneaky. Agatha Christie Agatha Christie’s name is synonymous with mystery stories – you expect murders and detectives and red herrings from her books. So when she wanted to write something different, she picked a new name: 'Mary Westmacott'. According to Christie, it was less to do with targeting a different demographic and more about letting herself play with a new genre. Writing mysteries was her day job; writing romances was fun.

Christie wrote four novels as Westmacott before she got found out, and a further two after the cat was out of the bag. C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis is best known for the Chronicles Of Narnia, his Christian-flavoured children’s fantasy books. Before he published those, though, and before he became a Christian, he published several volumes of poetry under the name 'Clive Hamilton'. Spirits In Bondage was written when Lewis was just 20 years old and freshly returned from military service, but sadly for him, it went largely ignored. His second volume of poetry, Dymer, was similarly frostily received, and that failure put Lewis off writing much more poetry. It might also explain why his later books were attributed to 'C.S. Lewis'. Lewis used another pseudonym later in life, too, when he wrote A Grief Observed about the death of his wife. 'N. W. Clerk' wasn’t revealed to be Lewis until after his death in 1963.

Isaac Asimov In another case of an author trying to duck damage to their reputation by a potentially awful adaptation, when science fiction writer Isaac Asimov started writing a YA sci-fi book that was going to be turned into a TV show, he chose a new name. David Starr, Space Ranger was published under the name 'Paul French'. Not familiar with that show? The TV series never actually happened, but Asimov went on to write a further five books in the Lucky Starr series. Eventually, he stopped being embarrassed about them, brought in his famous Three Laws Of Robotics, and admitted Paul French and Isaac Asimov were one and the same. Dean Koontz Some authors write under one name; others under two; a few under three. Dean Koontz, on the other hand, writes under at least ten names. Throughout the 1970s, he published as many as eight books a year, and since his editors told him writing in different genres under the same name was a bad idea, he needed some alternative aliases. So he picked some: 'Aaron Wolfe', 'Brian Coffey', 'David Axton', 'Deanna Dwyer', 'John Hill', 'K.R.

Dwyer', 'Leigh Nichols', 'Anthony North', 'Owen West', and 'Richard Paige'. Over the years there have been other works under other names that were suspected to have been written by Dean Koontz, but he swears he only used those names and no others. Ten names is enough for anyone, no? Anne Rice Under her own name, Anne Rice is known as the author of the Vampire Chronicles, the books that reinvented bloodsuckers as sensitive souls in need of love long before Twilight came along. Since she started writing the Vampire Chronicles, Rice has converted to Christianity and then unconverted again, and written dozens of books along the way, but she also writes under two different pen names: as 'A. N. Roquelaure', she wrote four medieval erotic novels, and as 'Anne Rampling', she wrote two novels purporting to explore the darker side of sex and romance. So, that’s erotic fiction again, then. Michael Crichton Nowadays, the late Michael Crichton is a pretty well-known name in the action/thriller/sci-fi genres, with many of his best-selling books having been turned into blockbusting movies.

But when he was just starting out (and still at medical school) Crichton published his writing under pseudonyms. Odds On, his first published novel, was attributed to 'John Lange'; after several more books written as Lange, he published A Case Of Need under the name 'Jeffery Hudson'. The first time he actually used the name Michael Crichton was in 1969, for The Andromeda Strain. More Lange books followed, but Crichton eventually reverted to using his own name… though not before he published Dealing, a thriller co-written with his brother, under the name 'Michael Douglas'. Read more about: 8 famous authors who used secret pseudonyms | MNN - Mother Nature Network MNN.com > Lifestyle > Arts & Culture 8 famous authors who used secret pseudonyms J.K. Rowling wasn't the first. While many established writers are relieved to rely on their fame, these authors adopted sly alter egos. 4 J.K. Rowling, who you might also know as Robert Galbraith. (Photo: Daniel Ogren/ flickr ) Many authors have chosen to publish by a pen name.

Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, Mark Twain grew up as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and Theodor Seuss Geisel was the name on the birth certificate of Dr. Seuss . But where pen names get interesting is when an established author decides to slip past the spotlight and write something secretly under a pseudonym. Consider the following examples: 1. Agatha Christie: Mary Westmacott The English crime writer wrote an impressive 66 detective novels and more than 15 short story collections under her own name, but she also wrote six romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott. 2. Benjamin Franklin: Mrs. Silence Dogood What a wicked sense of humor this founding father had. In 1722, a series of “charming” letters were delivered to the New-England Courant (one of the first American newspapers) written by a middle-aged widow named Silence Dogood — who was actually young Benjamin Franklin . After being denied publication in the paper, the sly writer took on the alias, and was quickly published. Of hoop skirts, the cheeky Mrs.

Dogood wrote: These monstrous topsy-turvy Mortar-Pieces, are neither fit for the Church, the Hall, or the Kitchen; and if a Number of them were well mounted on Noddles-Island, they would look more like Engines of War for bombarding the Town, than Ornaments of the Fair Sex. An honest Neighbour of mine, happening to be in Town some time since on a publick Day, inform’d me, that he saw four Gentlewomen with their Hoops half mounted in a Balcony, as they withdrew to the Wall, to the great Terror of the Militia, who (he thinks) might attribute their irregular Volleys to the formidable Appearance of the Ladies Petticoats. 3. C.S. Lewis: Clive Hamilton and N.W. Clerk Clive Staples Lewis, the hugely influential Christian writer who contributed "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Out of the Silent Planet," "The Four Loves," "The Screwtape Letters" and "Mere Christianity" to the world also wrote by another pen name.

Under the name of Clive Hamilton, he published "Spirits in Bondage" and "Dymer." And then in 1961, he published "A Grief Observed" which addressed his bereavement over losing his wife. The book was first published under the pseudonym in hopes of avoiding identification of Lewis as the author. 4. Isaac Asimov: Paul French Author and professor Isaac Asimov, best known for his works of science fiction and his popular science books, was asked to write a juvenile science-fiction novel that would serve as the basis for a television series. Fearing that the “Lucky Starr” series would be adapted into the "uniformly awful" programming typical of television, he decided to publish it under the pseudonym Paul French. Plans for the TV series fell through, but he continued to write the books, eventually producing six novels in the series. 5. J.K.

Rowling: Robert Galbraith Having already shortened her name to a gender-ambiguous set of initials, Joanne Rowling recently set the book-reading world reeling when it was divulged that the world’s best selling author was the voice behind Robert Galbraith, supposed first-time author of “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” Said the author upon her outing: “I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.” 6. Michael Crichton: John Lange, Jeffery Hudson and Michael Douglas During his time at Harvard Medical School, the bestselling author began publishing under his own name, but then also started publishing under the names of John Lange, Jeffery Hudson and Michael Douglas — the latter being a combination of his name and his brother’s, with whom he co-wrote "Dealing." 7. Stephen King: Richard Bachman Early in horror fiction author Stephen King's career, publishers often limited writers to one book per year, leading King to create a pseudonym to increase publications without over-saturating the King brand.

He convinced his publisher to print the extra novels under the pseudonym, Richard Bachman. Books published under the pen name include: "Rage" (1977), "The Long Walk" (1979), "Roadwork" (1981), "The Running Man" (1982), "Thinner" (1984), "The Regulators" (1996), and "Blaze" (2007). 8. Washington Irving: Jonathan Oldstyle, Diedrich Knickerbocker and Geoffrey Crayon Famed American author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," Washington Irving made his debut in 1802 under the name Jonathan Oldstyle. In 1809, he finished his first long book “A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty," a political and historic satire published under another pseudonym: Diedrich Knickerbocker. Before its publication, Irving started a marketing hoax by issuing a series of missing person notices in New York newspapers seeking information about Knickerbocker, a Dutch historian who had gone missing from his hotel in New York City.

As part of the scheme, Irving also placed a notice allegedly from the hotel’s proprietor, saying that if Mr. Knickerbocker didn’t return to settle his hotel bill, the hotel owner would publish the manuscript Knickerbocker had left behind. Naturally, it was published and eagerly scooped up. Guerilla marketing has never been the same. Related stories on MNN: AuthorHouse | Why Use a Pen Name? Legal Resources What’s in a Pen Name? Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, John Swithen, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, and Mary Westmacott. Two of these are the pen names of famous authors known better by their real names, and the other two are writers more widely recognized by their pseudonyms. If we list them like this: Lewis Carroll, Stephen King, Mark Twain, and Agatha Christie—it suddenly makes perfect sense. So why do writers use pen names, pseudonyms, nom de plumes, or aliases? And is this something that will help you in marketing you as your brand and as an author? Using a pen name as an author is exactly the same as an actor using a stage name. It is not a new concept and is a matter of personal choice.

You should make sure, however, that the reasoning behind your decision to write under another name is sound and will not have the opposite effect on your work and damage your readers’ perceptions. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons writers usually choose a pen name. We’ll start with the wrong reasons so you can see if you’re on the right track from the outset. No Pen Name Required Reasons NOT to adopt a pen name: To appear more exotic Don’t try and use a pen name simply to impress your editors and readers. Your writing should be what warrants their appreciation. Once you have won them over with your writing craft, your name will become “exotic” by association. If it Jeopardizes Your Professionalism If you are trying to express your inner artist through your pen name, be careful who that person might be. You want to maintain an aura of professionalism. Names like Apollo Starfire or Divine Aphrodite run the danger of diminishing your credibility. To Remain Anonymous You should be willing to stand behind your writing, whether you are courting controversy or tackling the taboo. Do not fear the reactions of your readers, as this is the reason you shared your thoughts and opinions through your writing in the first place.

As a Shield If you have written about someone you know or you fear your material may be slanderous, you are better off changing the identities of your characters, rather than your name, to avoid any legal consequences. Nobody needs to know who you are really writing about. For Permission Restrictions on writing due to gender, race, ethnicity or culture should no longer be a problem. This is especially true with the advent of self-publishing. Suit Up that Pseudonym So now you know the reasons why you shouldn’t adopt a pen name, here are the some of the situations where a nom de plume might be just the right touch to add a certain je ne sais quoi. To Maintain Professionalism Just as your pen name can have a negative impact on your professionalism, it can also help preserve it. A university professor’s scholarly reputation could well be tarnished if he were discovered to have written a number of pulp fiction novels. People have unfounded preconceptions and prejudices about who should be writing what, so a pen name may be helpful to separate your literary ambitions from your career. To Cross Genres If you have already written in one genre and want to take on the challenge of another, you may want to think about doing so as a new persona.

This is especially true if those genres are poles apart, jumping from gruesome horror novels to children’s fairytales, for example. Dame Agatha Christie is a prime example of this. We introduced her above as Mary Westmacott. This was her pseudonym for writing romance novels. A far cry from the murder mysteries for which she is world renowned. To Meet Reader and Genre Expectations Have you ever read The Masked Marauding Mangler by Desiree Valentine or Lovely Little Lilies by Mike Hardstone? Obviously not. To Make it Snappier Alternatively, if your readers can’t remember or pronounce your name, this is going to adversely affect your book marketing. If your name is Catherine-Marguerite Fraquharson-Carruthers, for example, you might want to consider streamlining it to something like Cathy Carr or Catherine Margaret. To Keep Up with Production Being a prolific writer can actually work against your book marketing. If you start to pump books out at too fast a rate, readers will start to doubt the effort that is going into them. This was the reason behind Stephen King adopting his Richard Bachman alias.

5 Points to Remember So if you are considering writing under a pen name, remember these points to make your nom de plume work for your book marketing campaign: Keep it professional.

Question: Which author wrote using the pen name Mary Westmacott?
Answer: AGATHA CHRISTIE